It is not enough to be a great writer. If you want your book to stand the test of time, you must also be a great storyteller. Whether the subject is history or nature, parenting or pop culture, science or sports, Laurie Abkemeier looks for a distinctive voice and a natural talent for artfully conveying ideas or skillfully crafting a narrative.

A successful senior editor who became an agent in 2003, Laurie specializes in nonfiction and represents select children's picture books. She has placed more than 200 books with every major publisher, as well as mid-size publishers and small presses.

DeFiore and Company is a full service literary agency founded by Brian DeFiore and headquartered in New York's Flatiron District. Laurie is a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives.

Narrative Nonfiction
SEX AND THE CITY AND US and SEINFELDIA by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (Simon & Schuster) **A New York Times Hardcover and E-Book Best Seller
RISE OF THE ROCKET GIRLS by Nathalia Holt (Little, Brown) **A New York Times Hardcover Best Seller
PIERO'S LIGHT by Larry Witham (Pegasus Books) **Finalist for the 2015 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
CHEER! Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders by Kate Torgovnick (Touchstone) **The basis for the drama series "Hellcats" on The CW.
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY by Kristen Green (Harper)
**A New York Times Race and Civil Rights Best Seller**Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
JUST A SHOT AWAY by Saul Austerlitz (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press)

General Nonfiction
SO GOOD THEY CAN'T IGNORE YOU and DEEP WORK by Cal Newport (Grand Central) **A Wall Street Journal Business Best Seller
THE GIFT OF FAILURE by Jessica Lahey (Harper) **A New York Times Education Best Seller
WHAT A PLANT KNOWS by Daniel Chamovitz (Scientific American Books/FSG) **Now in Its Second Edition
THE BOOK and SHADY CHARACTERS by Keith Houston (W.W. Norton)
MINIWEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION series by John Austin (Chicago Review Press) **More than 250,000 copies sold
GRAMMAR GIRL'S 101 WORDS Series by Mignon Fogarty (St. Martin's Griffin)
THE JOY OF SYNTAX and THE BEST PUNCTUATION BOOK, PERIOD by June Casagrande (Ten Speed Press)
STORY GENIUS and WIRED FOR STORY by Lisa Cron (Ten Speed Press)
EXPERIMENTING WITH BABIES by Shaun Gallagher (Perigee)
SECRETS FROM THE EATING LAB by Traci Mann, PhD (HarperWave)
AWKWARD by Ty Tashiro, PhD (William Morrow)
THE ENDS OF THE WORLD by Peter Brannen (Ecco)
HOW TO BE A HAPPIER PARENT by KJ Dell'Antonia (Avery)

Memoir
MARLEY & ME by John Grogan (William Morrow) **A #1 New York Times Hardcover Best Seller for 23 weeks. More than 19 months on the printed hardcover list
THE LONGEST TRIP HOME by John Grogan (William Morrow) **An instant NYT Hardcover Best Seller
THE $64 TOMATO by William Alexander (Algonquin)
THE NINE OF US by Jean Kennedy Smith (Harper)

Illustrated Gift
MY FRIEND FEAR; MADE OUT OF STARS; and START WHERE YOU ARE by Meera Lee Patel (Perigee) **More than 400,000 copies sold
SISTER BFFs and SOPPY by Philippa Rice (Andrews McMeel) **A #1 New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller
THE LITTLE BOOK OF LIFE HACKS (St. Martin's Press) and YOUR ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO BECOMING ONE WITH THE UNIVERSE (Adams Media) by Yumi Sakugawa
EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY MOMENTS by Jorey Hurley (Potter Style)
THE NOCTURNAL JOURNAL by Lee Crutchley (TarcherPerigee)
QUIET GIRL IN A NOISY WORLD by Debbie Tung (Andrews McMeel)
MAKE YOURSELF COZY by Katie Vaz (Andrews McMeel)

Children's Books
EVERY COLOR SOUP; NEST; FETCH; HOP; and RIBBIT by Jorey Hurley (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster Children's)
LES AND RONNIE STEP OUT and EDMUND UNRAVELS by Andrew Kolb (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin)
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU by Susan Farrington (Balzer+Bray)
SPRING FOR SOPHIE written by Yael Werber (Paula Wiseman Books/S&S)
A RACCOON AT THE WHITE HOUSE by Rachel Dougherty (Simon Spotlight)
ALL ABOARD! series, illustrated by Andrew Kolb (Abrams Appleseed)

Laurie has also overseen the bestselling series of children's picture books based on John Grogan's MARLEY & ME. They include the #1 New York Times bestsellers BAD DOG, MARLEY! and A VERY MARLEY CHRISTMAS, the top-5 New York Times bestsellers MARLEY GOES TO SCHOOL and MARLEY AND THE KITTENS, and an extension program that includes more than a dozen I Can Read's, Lift-the-Flap books, Touch-and-Feel books, a boxed set, a treasury, and a sticker book.

Published in 2019 (so far)
BOOK LOVE by Debbie Tung (Andrews McMeel)

MOST RECENT SALES / FORTHCOMING BOOKS

Narrative and General Nonfiction
GENERATION FRIENDS by Saul Austerlitz (Sold to Dutton)
THE ADDRESS BOOK by Deirdre Mask (Sold to Picador USA)
THE QUEENS OF ANIMATION by Nathalia Holt (Sold to Little, Brown)
PLEASED TO MEET ME by Bill Sullivan, PhD (Sold to National Geographic Books)
MRS. MORHARD AND THE BOYS by Ruth Hanford Morhard (Sold to Citadel Press)
FURY ON THE WAVES by Rachel Lance, PhD (Sold to Dutton)
YALE NEEDS WOMEN by Anne Gardiner Perkins (Sold to Sourcebooks)
THE WAY WE ALL BECAME THE BRADY BUNCH by Kimberly Potts (Sold to Grand Central)
WALKING WITH THE MOON by Rebecca Boyle (Sold to Random House)

Practical Nonfiction
PROPELLED TOWARD THE GOOD LIFE by Andreas Elpidorou, PhD (Sold to Oxford University Press)
DIGITAL MINIMALISM and A WORLD WITHOUT EMAIL by Cal Newport (Sold to Portfolio)
EXPERIMENTS FOR NEWLYWEDS by Shaun Gallagher (Sold to Sourcebooks)
EXPERIMENTING WITH PRESCHOOLERS by Shaun Gallagher (Sold to TarcherPerigee)
HAPPY CAMPERS by Audrey Monke (Sold to Center Street)
ULTRALEARNING by Scott Young (Sold to HarperBusiness)
THE ADDICTION INOCULATION by Jessica Lahey (Sold to Harper)
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING by Nancy Davis Kho (Sold to Running Press)

Illustrated Nonfiction
GET LOST! by Lee Crutchley (Sold to TarcherPerigee)
THE ESCAPE MANUAL FOR INTROVERTS by Katie Vaz (Sold to Andrews McMeel)
HAPPILY EVER AFTER (AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN) by Debbie Tung (Sold to Andrews McMeel)
BABY: A SOPPY STORY by Philippa Rice (Sold to Andrews McMeel in the US and to Square Peg in the UK)

Dramatic rights to MARLEY & ME to FOX 2000 in an outright purchase, in conjunction with Matthew Snyder at CAA. Film released on December 25, 2008, and starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson spent two weeks as the #1 movie in the country--surpassing the $100 million mark in its first ten days and grossing $243 million. Animated special in development with Fox.

Television rights to Kate Torgovnick's CHEER!: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders, optioned to Warner Bros Television and Tom Welling Productions for development as a drama series for the CW, with Kevin Murphy attached to write, in conjunction with CAA. Picked up by The CW as "Hellcats" for a full season run.

Originally from northern California, Laurie Abkemeier graduated from Wells College with a degree in communications and a background in broadcast and print journalism. She began her publishing career as an editorial assistant in the Touchstone/Fireside division at Simon & Schuster before moving to Hyperion, where she was responsible for five New York Times bestsellers and many national bestsellers. In 2003, she joined DeFiore and Company as a literary agent. She has represented multiple New York Times and national bestsellers, and she has overseen book-to-screen deals, including those that led to the #1 blockbuster movie Marley & Me and The CW drama Hellcats. She also invented a sandwich. You should try it. Read more about Laurie and learn how you can connect with her here.

SUB-AGENTS / RIGHTS CONTACTS

DeFiore and Company actively markets its titles through an extensive network of sub-agents who specialize in dramatic and foreign rights.

Laurie Abkemeier accepts only email queries (attachments will not be read unless requested) for nonfiction projects. Snail mail queries will be discarded. Please include the word "QUERY" and your book title in the subject line, and send your brief query to Laurie@defliterary.com. Submissions need not be exclusive, and response time is generally between two hours and two weeks. If you have not heard from me during this time, please check that the defliterary.com domain name is on your email server whitelist; my response might have been rejected by your server. Please note that Laurie does not consider fiction from prospective clients.